Adjustable sectional boat



May 25, 194s.

F. L.. FULKE ADJUSTABLE SECTIONAL BOAT Filed June 22, 1944 Patented May25, 1948 ADJUSTABLE SECTIONAL BOAT Frank L. Fulke, Terre Haute, Ind.

Application June 22, 1944, Serial No. 541,524 'z claim. (C1. 114-665)The object of this inventionl is to provide a small boat composed of aplurality of separably connected sections, each being an independentwater tight unit. A prime specic objective is to provide means wherebyadjustment may con- Veniently be made at any time and under anycircumstances in the relative planes of the bottoms of the severalsections.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention maybe embodied in the vforms illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawing isillustrative only, andthat change may be made in the specificconstructions illustrated rand described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my boat;

Fig. 2 is a rear end view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side view of `the same boat after a change has been made inthe relative planes of the bottoms of the several sections of the boat:

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the boat so adjusted, but with the bottomsof the sections held in horizontal positions;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental top plan view of the boat at a joint between twosections thereof, showing how a sheet aluminum wrapper and transversewooden bulkheads are employed to form an independent boat section, andshowing how the sections are adjustably connected;

Fig. 6 is a fragmental vertical section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmental section taken substantially on the line1-1 of Fig. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmental plan taken in the plane of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section taken in a plane like that indicated bythe line 9-'9 in Fig. 1, and showing an alternative wrapper structure.

There is general need for a small sectional boat that lends itself toease of transportation, as for example carrying it upon the roof of acar, or in the car, or on the bumper of the car, or shipping it in alight plywood container. Therefore my boat is made so that itsindependent sections may t into each other, much like a stack of bowls,whereby a 12 foot boat may be made to occupy a volume not greatlyexceeding that of one of its sections.

The weight of the boat is also a prime consideration ii it is to bereadily transportable and 8,5 tor andk 2 capable of considerable speed.Therefore I propose to make my boat as light as possible, yet as sturdyand rigid as heavier boats made in one piece.

To accomplish these objectives, each section of my boat comprises analuminum wrapper and a pair of wooden ends, except that the frontsection will have only a rear wooden end and a formed front bow end.

In the drawings, l is a front boat section, 2 is a middle section and 3is a rear section. Each of these sections is an independent water-tightunit, each having gunwales 4, and a keel 5.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the bottoms of the three sections are in the sameplane, so the boat is a smooth bottom boat without steps, best adaptablefor moderate speed with considerable load with a small outboard motorclamped to its stern, or to be rowed with oars, and broken line 6 wouldrepresent the water line under such conditions.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the rearward end of front section I is displaced belowthe vforward end of middle section 2, so that step l is dened; and therearward end of section 2 is similarly displaced below the forward endof the stern section 3, so that step 8 is defined. In Fig. 3 broken line9 would represent the water line while the boat is stationary in thewater and broken line I0 would represent the water line if the boat wereat full speed with a light load, pushed by a high speed motor ofconsiderable power. In this position the bottom of the boat 4is planingand very little of it actually engages the water. Only a slight areaforward of the step of each section engages the water, much in themanner of running and skipping over the top of the water. The higher theboat lifts or planes the less of its bottom will engage the water andthe less actual shoving of water out of its way will the boat have to doas it moves rapidly forward, and the propeller slippage will decrease asthe boat speed increases.

My boat as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and carrying six people may havea 20 H. P. motor and a propeller of 12" pitch and the motor may turn it3,000 R. P. M. But it may be found under those conditions that the boatcannot be shoved through `the water at greater than 1,000 feet perminute, or almost 12 miles per hour. In this case we would say thepropeller slippage is 66%% since the propeller could theoretically screwitself through 3,000 feet of water per minute if there were no slippage.

But my same boat illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 carrying only its drivermay, with the same mopropeller, be found capable of running and skippingover the water 2,700 feet per minute,

' or more than 30 miles an hour, in which case we would say there isonly 10% propeller slippage.

' with the plywood. This juncture might be conf A small smooth bottomboat carrying a heavy load will move faster through the water with lesspower and less propeller slippage than will a boat with steps, is saferand more easily steered.

The foregoing is, of Course, understood by those skilled inthe art'.However, noI two iexpertsin the art would agreeupon exactly how highstep1 and step S should be and. they might disagree Y on whether one of thesteps should be theres..-

Given certain boat weight and dimensionsmotor,

propeller, a 175 pound driver and a 200 pound passenger, both expertsmight agreethat ifthe passenger is sitting on the rear seatA with' theVdriver step 'l would give no benefit in boat speed" and step 8 wouldbest be quite high, forfexample, 'I

4 inches. But let the 260 pound passenger'm'ove up VtoA a forwardseatYand itis quite probable the beneiit in speed.Y However, they couldhardly be .experts would agree Vthat step 1 would confer a V expected toagree that step I should be 1%" high Y ditions, toobtain the veryfastestboatl speed.

Now as to boat Vperformance under any particular set of specificconditions there is -just one correct answer but it could'never be,vreliably calculated by any number'of experts.V The onlyway to nd theycorrect answer is to equip the'vboat with a water-speedindicator andfind some way V to Yselectively vary the bottom of therb'oat; its

steps and their height, and getout on the water,

and step should be 2% high under thoseconset the motor at full speed,and proceed'to adjust s the boat until the speed indicator' showshighest boat'speeol. YThat, and only that, willgive the correctV answer.I

A smallboat' is Voperated'by its; owner, under n extremely varyingsetsofconditions; I-Ie may want to VVtake 6 friends out for a ride ,andhe willdo a better job. of this with a-smooth-bottom boat like my Fig. 1. Butif` he wantsfto drivealone. 6

miles'to town4 to get cigars-,he can travel 'miles an hour 'and have aklotr more; fun if his. boatis f like my Fig, 3.V So4 far as I amfaware,he would haveto'own atleast two boatsl tobeable toj'serve ordinarypurposes for which such small boats are employed with any reasonabledegree of ei-e ciency. Even with one slow boatY androne fast boatytherewould be noghighdegreeV of .eiciency except in an extremely'rare case-inwhich all the conditions added up to exactly those for whichthe boathappened tobe ideal. The conditions. of

, right angle deflection of Wrapper l V2' presents an edge l1 oftheiwrapper parallelgwitnedge/Mi'of f; the wooden bulkhead.j.It should--be apparent thatfwhen wrapperVV t2.A and bulkhead? lrlare put load,available engine, available propeller, etc., are

of' such extreme variationpthat I'considerit'worthY while-to so contrivemy: boat that its owner; may Y .conveniently adjustV it to meet 'everycondition"` he Y will encounter in the vuse of'his boat;

In Fig; 'wooden bulkhead Hlis therear end of l" my section 2, andsimilar bulkhead l 3i is the front end of mysecti'on 3. Thesebulkheads=areshaped V to define the athwartships outline of the boat andgive this Ashape to sheet metal wrapper` l2 which forms the skin oftheboat. Thisvwrappei'. I-Z- is securely attached at itsY edges aroundtheIedge'V of bulkhead Il. My objectives-being-t'o'makefmy boatas light aspossible for' convenient transpor tation in sections and to-give fastspeedL-'IIv will Y proposition from shearin useplywood for bulkhead Iland'about 20'gauge sheet aluminum forwwrapper` I p2.' Theause@ of inwhich the bulkhead and-.wrapper arepsecured must be protected against'water seeping in be- Vsuch light materials to'attainitheobjectives Ysought `entails carefulconsideration: ofv the: wlay Y together. Thesawed edge ofga plywood-panel @i tween the sheetmetal wrapper and itsjuncture ventionally secured by a line of closely spaced wood screws.But even if the screws were only an inch apart there is no assurancethat a screwmight not break off, work loose, or otherwise fail tosecurely hold the aluminum wrapper so tightly against the Wood ateveryerpoint, as to assure against water `seepinginto'the plywood, whichwould in time` cause it tobadly deteriorate and i permit separation ofits laminated layers. VThen` Y I? have to'consid'er the unusualstressesto *whichY suchjunction portions of my boat are subjected,

notatallcommon to conventional small boats.

orbreaking apart of its severalsectionsunder smashing impacts as whenthe boat is tossed upward-'by one ,wave and then crashes down upon asucceeding wave;Y these stresses being extremely highvif the boatisheaVily loaded.. Such shocks could. tear out the aluminumy sheet at.vconventional perioratedscrew holeseor-it couldshear the screws,preferably-made of; brass, to resist c rustingaway. Itrmustbe'rememberedthat an ordinary full lengthboat havingYsuc-h a-wrapperattached to a'stern bulkheadonly, cannotreceive any stresses likelytotearV the wrapper from the bulkhead, while stresses upon` thejuncturelof my wrapper with its bulkheadfrcan come'irom ahead andefrom behindatethe same -instant,r and these can be severe twistingstresses;aswhenthe boat crashesy its left frontfportionldownagainst Yan-oncomingwave whleiits right' rear portionlis supported on another wave V V V:'-7

In recognition ofthesefrequirements; I- have sordevised': the junctureof my.v wrapperandfits transverse wooden; bulkhead; that it'- canfsafely meet all the requirements: In Fig. 8sit'willbe.

seen that myfaluminumwrapper' |'2 lies across the sawed edge. lf3(obscured;by; the sealingff'material k3E?) ofthe.A plywood'fbulkhead VHand; at the corner of the fouter' facel flotbulkheadz H the Wrapper IZdeflectsa atea right ang-lev so: as

top resent `aportionpll-*of the wrapperflyingz against outerl face IEroi bulk-head1! -I z l Ai further together a simple;l application@ lofipressure;vv will cause ,.edge I le of' theT `wrapper-tol :bite: itselfinto the wood, after whicha-fewfboltsrlareiaixed Now it should alsobeapparentthat bolts'fland tered; Edge |1- offwrapper be torn, fullllength,-rf an,d;thisis quite; fa" different at av screw-hole;V Alea-2 eedge-fi ofiwra'p-e facel l 5:01?bulkheadV l watertight` sealis eiieseep@ into f sawed. edge seal neverreqir'es vc ,effectandpermanent d;so'fthat no jwater- ,can7

mentaddsfmaterially or:thezstiiness.fanderigiclity ofitheejuncturefiofngietallia wrapperandj wooden bulkhead, andwill protectthe bulkheadgasa-inst Y arly-.Splitting or peeling cfa its.lavarsi.ilcforeftheV a suitable cement, as liquid rubber cement, may

I-'Trnust guard against any possibility of rupture" 'rewor tearing outY* n glitiy'imbeddeintmtne Y Y 'Peli upefgIt'4 may; alsofb noted thatthisarrangee.

rst be brushed upon the sawed edge I4 and the outer ledge of thebulkhead against which portion I6 of the wrapper is to lie, as an addedsafeguard against any moisture entering the wood; and after assembly, aseal of rubber cement or the like may be applied as at 30 to guardagainst seepage of spray or rain between the wrapper and the sawed edgeof the bulkhead.

In Fig, 5, at each side of adjacent transverse bulkheads ll and I3 whichare the ends of adjacent boat sections, is shown a pair of verticalsteel interlocked guide elements disposed in vertically slidable manner.On bulkhead I3 guides I9, I9 are suitably secured as by bolts, havingflanges facing outward. On bulkhead II guides 23, 22 are fastened,having flanges facing inward. In this'manner the adjacent boat sectionsare interlocked together in slidable manner, so that the plane of thebottom of one f the sections can be offset from the plane of the bottomof the other section. The steel guides extend vertically substantiallyfrom the lower edge to the upper edge of their respective transversebulkheads, thereby securing all the strength and rigidity possible.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the wrappers I2 secured at the bottom edges ofthe rear transverse bulkhead II of boat section 2, and the fronttransverse bulkhead I3 of boat section 3. In the position shown in solidlines there is no offset in the planes occupied by the bottoms of thesetwo boat sections, so the boat will function as a smooth bottom boat.One of the steel guides I9 just previously described is shown slidablyinterlocking boat sections 2 and 3 in a manner that will permit thebottom of section 2 to be downwardly displaced, so that its bottom willbe lower than that of section 3, as shown in dotted lines, whereby astep 8 will be dened, and the height of this step may be any exactheight desired from zero to four inches. All that is now needed to carryout my objective is mechanical means whereby the operator can, while theboat is moving, selectively vary the height of step 8 until he findsthat the boat is going the fastest.

In Figs. 6 and 7, I have shown a bracket 22 fastened to bulkhead l I andhaving welded thereto a vertical threaded rod 23. A handwheel 24 formedto provide a groove 25 is threaded upon rod 23. Bulkhead I3 has fastenedto it a bracket 26 which has a lip 2l projecting into groove 25. Whenhand wheel 24 is turned counter-clockwise rod 23 must therefore movedownwardly, having conventional right hand thread, therefore boatsection 2 must move downwardly. By spinning handwheel 24 the boatoperator may therefore readily move boat section 2 downwardly orupwardly, at will, and while the boat is in motion, and selectivelyposition it at the point where the boat goes fastest. In this way he mayreadily transform the characteristics of his boat to make it meet, withhighest eciency, all the conditions of load, engine power, propeller,etc., involved at that particular moment. And every time there is somechange in those conditions, as by a change in the load, he may quicklyand conveniently alter the boat to make it again perform with highestefficiency under the changed conditions. y

Itshould be noted that similar control devices as shown in Figs. 6 and 7may be disposed to independently control further sections of the boat.

In the construction of step boats with which I am familiar the stepdefines sharp corners at the sides of the boat. In other words, lookingat the boat from the side, the step resembles a gash clear across itsbottom. There is no attempt to provide any step clearance, at the sideof the boat. Why not? For a considerable depth of water the side of theboat is in full frictional engagement with the water to just the sameextent the bottom of a smooth bottom boat is. If a step on the bottom isdesirable, why not a step or relief on the sides? The very distinctwakes left by the corners of the usual steps of a boat that is planingshould be eliminated because they cost power and mean drag, and they areeliminated by my construction.

Upon a consideration of Fig. 4 it will be noted that when I displace oneof my sections to define a step bottom, the step that is defined doesnot terminate squarely at corners of the boat bottom. There are nocorners. The entire side of the boat below water level is provided witha step. The step height gradually merges from the full bottom stepdimension to zero at about the gunwale of the boat. Y

In planing, a boat rises until only small areas of its bottom just headof the step and just ahead of its rear end frictionally engage thewater, and a partial vacuum may form in the region 28 immediately behindthe step. Air must adequately be pulled in from the sides, else theeffect of this vacuum would be to pull the boat down into the water, inother words, resist its free planing upon the surface of the water. Ifair could be admitted directly from above and entirely across the widthof the step, it would aid materially and in my construction this isprovided for by the air space 29 existing between the adjacent sectionsof my boat, which will admit air directly above and to the rear of, andfull length of the step.

In the structure thus far described, the keel will preferably be formedby wrapping the wrapper I2 about a wooden bar, or the like, suitablysecured to the bulkheads. As an alternative construction, I haveillustrated in Fig. 9 a keel produced by bending the adjacent edges of atwopart wrapper. Thus, instead of the wrapper I2, extending from gunwaleto gunwale, I disclose in Fig. 9 a wrapper consisting of a section 3lextending from the starboard gunwale to the region of the keel, and asection 32 extending from the port gunwale to the region of the keel.The inner edge of the wrapper section 32 is bent straight downwardly asat 33, while the somewhat elongated inner edge of the section 3| is bentstraight downwardly as at 34, substantially in contact with the portion33 of the section 32, thence toward the port, as at 35, and thenceupwardly as at 35 to embrace the portion 33 of the section 32. Thethus-bent portions of the wrapper sections may be crimped togethertightly enough to produce a rigid, water-tight seam; or they may becrimped and then spot welded or seam welded; or, as illustrated, a sealof rubber cement or similar material may be applied to the inner surfaceof the joint, as indicated at 31.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a small boat a plurality of independent water-tight sectionsslidably coupled together in tandem with means including a verticallypositioned threaded element operable to effect -relative movement of theadjacent ends of adjacent sections upon a vertical line.

2. In a small boat a plurality of independent Water-tight sectionsslidably coupled together in tandem with selectively adjustable meanscom- `li'isin'g' eo'acting' elementscarried? by adjacent p'seotionsa'n'd Ioperable to effectrel'ative movement V"'-of'"`theadjacent ends ofA suchk sections upon a `-veiticalf1ine- I 3, In a smallboata plurality of independent lsections coupledrtogetherin tandem withme- 'chanical means including interacting elements carried by' saidrespective sections Vto offsetvthe said further section, andfineanscooperating-with' the-adjacentbulkheads'f connectedsections forselectively varying theV amount oi;` saiol displacement. v `a Y f ,Y

5: In aA boat comprising independent water tightl sections "arranged inytandem, a forward section having ka rear end;V bulkhead and arearwardsectionhaving a front end bulkhead, means including verticallyextending cooperating guide means 'on saidrespective bulkheads, andthreaded means 'operatively' associated with` said respective bulkheadsand operative to Vary the relative posi- Vtions'of said bulkheadsvertically. Y

` a small boat, a plurality of independent waterftig'htsections', eachhaving a bottom, apair of 'gunwales a forward vclosed end and a rear-Ywardclosedvend, cooperatingadjusting elements carried by the forwardclosed end` of one section and the rearwardclosedendmf: an? adjacentsec' tion, said'ad'justing` elementscoactng to connectsaidfsectionsstogether in tandem-with: the bottoms` of both sectionsrestingupon the water, and' said adjusting. elementslbeine voperableV tovaryithe Y Y angular relationbetta/een'v thebottomsofl saidsec- Ytionsand-the'surfaceof the water;`

7. In asmallboatiaplunalityof' independent Water-'tight sections, 'eachhavingV a bottoni; Va pairY of' gunwales, aiorward :closed end( and arearwardclosed end,`:cooperatin"g adjusting elements l oarriedby thetorward closed end ofione section and the" rearward' closed: end` of Yan adjacent section,Vv said adjusting 4elements coacting toconnect said`sections'togetherintandem with Y Y the connectedendsof'said sectionsspaced from each other andwith'the bottoms of both'sections resting uponthe` water; "and said: adjusting ele e 'mentsE being operable tovary-the angular rrela-` tionbetween Vthe bottoms of. said sections andthe surfaceof the water. Y f

Y REFERENCES CITED n The foliowing 'referencesare ofy record in the ileof this patent:V Y Y Y Y' Y UNITED STATES PATENTS

